3 . At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us. My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection. We joined the gymnastics team in high school and our _________ became even more important to us.

One summer day, all my friends were at my house swimming. At one point, I was running back to the pool. I _________ on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung(蛰)me. I immediately started to feel _________. That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen. I couldn’t walk.

When my foot started to go numb(麻木)everyone became more _________. My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the hospital, and my leg hurt as if it were broken. I couldn’t move. All I could do was think about how soft my waist(腰部)was becoming, which _________ me more than any concern over my leg.

That all changed when I heard the doctors mention possibly _________ my foot. It was still not getting the _________ supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

I never have such great appreciation for my foot before. And walking seemed like a _________ from the gods. Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about gymnastics and who was wearing what. More and more I expected visits from other kids in the _________, who were quickly becoming my friends.

One girl came to visit me __________. Every time she came, she brought flowers. She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and __________ the other patients.

She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking. I would not have given this girl a second __________ before. I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her __________.

Finally, I was improving and soon I went home. My leg was still swollen, __________ I was walking, and I had my foot When I went back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and __________ encouragement. I thought if there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.

4 . The Chinese government ends its one-child policy (政策) and allows families to have three children. The policy is meant to balance population development, stop a falling birth rate (出生率) and strengthen the country’s labor force (劳动力).

China, with the largest population in the world, started the one-child policy in 1980. But the government allowed only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born child is a girl. In 2016, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of them was an only child. Because of aging of population, in 2021, it allowed families to have three children.

To the newest policy, different families have different opinions. “Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having two or three children,” an official said. “People in the countryside are more interested.”

At the end of 2021, China had a population of more than 1. 4 billion people. A total of 900 million of them have jobs. But the labor market population will drop in 30 years. That is to say, the country will be in great need of labor by the year 2050. With the three-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem.

Boys and girls, what do you think of the three-child policy? Do you want to have new-born brothers or sisters?

5 . My great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father are all farmers. My father expects me to become a farmer and _______ them all but I don’t agree with my father.

Three years ago, my father took me to an airport to visit one of his friends. His friend _______ a small airline. It was the first time I had seen a _______ airplane. After my father’s friend discovered I had never been in an airplane, he _______ me to fly with them. When we took off, I felt excited. While we were in the air, I almost forgot I had to _______ the ground. All I could think of was flying would be my _______ in life and how I wanted to fly again and again.

Since then, if I had time, my father’s friend would teach me how to fly. He _______ let me fly alone once. I wanted to become a pilot but I would have to go _______ my father.

At the age of 18, I had to tell my father what I wanted to do but I didn’t want to make him _______. As he walked ahead of me and I ________, I didn’t know what I could say to help him understand my ________ for flying. I took my courage and said, “Father, I have something ________ to tell you. I want to go to college and become a pilot. I have talked to the schools and they agreed to give me financial (金融的) help. “I felt nervous in his ________. Then he spoke,” I was wondering when you would tell me. I have been ________ money for you. ” When I heard this, I couldn’t help crying. For the first time, I really understand his ________ love for me.

Communicating with the old can be challenging, especially when considering the fact    1     their abilities are failing.

First of all, you are supposed to respect the old’s thoughts, backgrounds and life experience. Do not correct their opinions even when you can’t reach any     2     (agree). And when old people are talking, listen     3     (careful). Let them finish because letting them express their thoughts and emotions     4     (be) important.

When you’re together with them, try to know if they would like     5     (chat) or be quiet. And     6     you feel they want to be quiet, just be there, because     7     (spend) time with them is as important as talking to them or cheering them up.

As communication with old people can be difficult, it is     8     (importance) to be always patient. When you are explaining something     9     them, you should remain patient when they ask you to repeat yourself. Try using gestures while you talk with them, or write down what you want to say when     10     is necessary.

8 . In the digital age, we rely on technology such as social media in trying to build interesting and varied lives. Social networking sites like Facebook are designed and promoted to make us believe enthusiastically that they are able to open up new experiences for us. There are constant notifications (通知) and updates, attracting us to check-in to find out what is new.

But if we do not use the technology wisely, we can end up becoming overly attached and trapped in a cycle of social media FOMO, a sign of deeper unhappiness. FOMO, or fear of missing out, is a fear that exciting or interesting events are happening somewhere else and that we are not able to join.

People who experience high levels of FOMO have been found to be more likely to give in to desires to write and check text messages while driving, as well as to use Facebook more often directly after waking, while going to sleep and during meals.

When it comes to lasting happiness, it is best not to give in to FOMO, but rather to deal with the cycle of desires that fuel it. Hard as it is, we are better off working toward facing the fearful reality that we cannot experience everything we might like than to get caught in a cycle of checking behaviors that only cause anxiety.

If we have become used to using social media as part of our attempts at living interesting lives, we must admit that it is not easy to change our approach. But change is almost always worthwhile in the long run.

The fact that FOMO is so common in our digital age is a sign that there is something wrong with the way we are pursuing happiness and that we are not as happy as we might think we are. It should warn us that, in our eagerness to use digital technology to try to make ourselves happier, we may unintentionally (无意之中) be bringing on exactly the opposite result.

10 . Every month, Mary Davis throws a big rooftop birthday party on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, home of some of the worst poverty in the nation.

Mary and her husband Ari Kadin started Morthy of Love, a charity organization that _________ children without a home still deserve a birthday party. “So many children in Skid Row needed to feel _________ and loved,” Davis said. “We didn’t realize how much _______ they were going to bring us, and that was so _________ for me to step out of my troubled past.”

The Randell family is _________ Worthy of Love for the second time. Their daughter, Briana _________ 12 this month. Without Worthy of Love, her birthday would be just another _________ day.

When Davis started the monthly birthday party, there were 15 kids at the shelter. Many of them never had a birthday party before, and they were so excited to have one that they made their own _________—singing, clapping and laughing. Since then, the couple have thrown a party each month and the _______ attracts 250 kids and their parents. Six years later, it has __________ to have over 200 kids.

“This rooftop provides a beautiful __________. You’re above everything. But if you look down, you see homeless people on the street, and this reminds you that these kids don’t get to leave this area after the __________,” Davis said.

After watching more than 6,000 kids blow out __________ at their parties, Davis and Kadin finally had one of their own—their little girl, who will __________ her first birthday in the same place.

“I want her to grow up knowing that she has to __________ happiness and joy to those in need,” Davis said.